


Perfectly Misaligned

by paintstroke



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Birthday, Celebrations, Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Multi, Shiro's birthday exchange, Sweet, Threesome, Vacation, shklance - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-27 08:50:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13877430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintstroke/pseuds/paintstroke
Summary: Sometimes, timing is everything. And sometimes, the stars don't quite align.“I’m so sorry this is so late…” Keith whispered, his words punctuated by an apologetic kiss against the top of Shiro’s head. Shiro shifted a little, reaching up to stroke Keith’s forearm where it was draped over his shoulder. He tilted his head back, but Keith’s gaze was distant, looking out over the forest canopy underneath their balcony.Lance snorted from where he’d made Shiro’s lap his pillow. “It isn’t even a leap year, so you didn’t actually miss his birthday.”(A pinch hit for Shiro's Birthday Exchange.)





	Perfectly Misaligned

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note: I wrote this pinch hit for Shiro’s Birthday Exchange, for [fandom-and-other-stuff](https://fandom-and-other-stuff.tumblr.com)  
> who wanted Shiro to get some sweet loving for his birthday. Happy (Belated) Birthday, Shiro!
> 
> * * *

“I’m so sorry this is so late…” Keith whispered, his words punctuated by an apologetic kiss against the top of Shiro’s head. Shiro shifted a little, reaching up to stroke Keith’s forearm where it was draped over his shoulder. He tilted his head back, but Keith’s gaze was distant, looking out over the forest canopy underneath their balcony. 

If he was alone with Keith, Shiro would have murmured back to him that years are only relevant when you’re actually on the planet whose orbit they track. But Shiro only knew last week had been birthday because Lance had kept such careful track of when it would be on Earth. It meant a lot to Lance to keep the connections to home, and dismissing that would be cruel. 

He settled for a different truth. “I’m glad you’re here now. It’s good to be together again.” Shiro kissed Keith’s arm. 

Lance snorted from where he’d made Shiro’s lap his pillow. “It isn’t even a leap year, so you didn’t actually miss his birthday.” 

“Hey,” Shiro protested, feigning indignation. He settled back against Keith’s chest, incredibly content, even with the teasing he was doomed to endure.

Lance rolled over, propped himself up on his elbows and made a face at Shiro before turning to Keith. He flapped a hand, as if that could shoo Keith’s regrets away. “We gave him a full birthday _week_ on the castle, so don’t let him try to guilt you into anything.” 

Shiro felt Keith’s arms tighten around him. Keith’s work with the Blades still kept him away too often, and the missions didn’t always keep to the expected schedule. It was easier not to dwell on it. Shiro squeezed Keith’s wrist reassuringly.

Lance pushed himself up further. “Besides,” he said as he hopped to his feet, “we timed this perfectly.” He went to pour them another round of drinks from the pitcher chilling behind them. 

Perfect was right, Shiro thought. This really was a much-needed escape. There was a sense of peace in the vibrant forest around them, and the luxury of the place Lance and Keith had rented was startling in contrast to the Castleship. The private accommodation had rooms separated into filigree seedpods bubbling out from the trunk of an ancient tree. Living, bloom-covered balconies had been shaped from the tree itself, making whimsical connections between the various areas. Shiro appreciated the retreat from the Castle; he could relax out here without as much guilt or pressure creeping in. 

And...

“There’s another one!” Shiro whispered excitedly, pointing out over the forest to their left. Keith immediately sat up and Lance turned in a sharp movement, both accepting the distraction more eagerly than Shiro had expected. 

The mountain rings of Olkarion smudged the horizon in a dark contrast to the star-filled sky, but the darkness made it easier to spot the bioluminescent gliders that drifted from tree to tree on the warm air currents. As silently as it had appeared, the manta-like alien melted back into the dark foliage below them. Fond memories of watching for shooting stars bloomed warm in his chest.

Stretched out on pillows, a cold drink cutting through the humid air, Shiro admitted to himself that it was the most relaxed he’d been in a while. There was the scent of green growing things was something missing from the Castleship. There was something incredibly reassuring about being out on a living planet, with air itself with humidity and droning sounds of small insect-like lifeforms. 

For a moment, they were all still, watching the quiet forest, but no other creature appeared. It took a moment for the spell to break, and then Lance turned back to his lovers. 

Shiro watched Lance, and Lance held eye contact before his contemplative look shattered into a devious grin. Instead of curling up against Shiro’s side again, Lance straddled Shiro’s lap, wedging his legs between Shiro’s and Keith’s as he sunk low, dropping his weight onto Shiro. He nudged his hips forward suggestively. The atmosphere suddenly became thick with promise. Shiro felt like he’d swallowed embers, the way the heat flared to life within him. It was as if the three of them hadn’t had a more fevered reunion just hours earlier. 

Keith shifted behind him, slipping his hands underneath Shiro’s shirt, dragging his fingers possessively over Shiro’s taut stomach. Shiro shut his eyes as he felt Keith’s hands teasingly follow the top of his pants, threatening to dip lower. 

Lance’s hands stroked restlessly over Shiro’s chest and shoulders. He pulled Shiro forward, close enough that breath ghosted over Shiro’s lips, leaving Shiro waiting for kisses that never landed. Shiro smiled and leaned closer, but Lance hovered just out of reach. With a chuckle, Lance ducked away, trailing kisses that were tongue and lips and heat against Shiro’s neck instead. Shiro let out a soft moan, tilting his chin up to give Lance room to play. 

Keith’s hands continued to draw hot trails over his skin, travelling up his sides and exposing a widening sliver of skin to the night air. His lips pressed into the back of Shiro’s neck, and Shiro was practically melting between the two of them. 

Shiro ran his hands up, skimming up over Lance’s jeans and higher, tracing along the dips of ribs and flex of muscles, back down to trace at the edge of the boxers rising just above jeans. Lance brushed his nose along Shiro’s, but he was apparently getting tired of his own teasing. His lips finally met Shiro’s. The brush of lips was soft at first, gentle and tempting. Shiro made a pleased sound, and dug his fingers into Lance’s hips, holding him close as he moved to deepen the kiss.

Lance laughed and pushed himself back, and Shiro leaned forwards to chase after him hungrily. “You’re so easy,” Lance declared, the sentiment softened by the adoration clear in his eyes. As if he wasn’t looking disheveled and needy, as if he wasn’t breathing just as hard.

“Oh really? Me?” Shiro challenged, a smirk pulling at his features. He rolled his hips up. Lance immediately rocked to meet him, hands running against the short sides of Shiro’s hair, tangling in the longer strands at the top. Shiro was pulled roughly into the kiss, letting Lance grind slowly against him, the weight of their bodies together heavy with promise. 

Shiro was breathing more heavily as they split apart, his hands running up the Lance’s back and back down, sweeping out to stroke over Keith’s legs. Keith’s nails drew blunt lines across Shiro’s stomach, and Shiro held his breath with the sensation, before Keith shifted, rearranging them. 

Keith smiled as he tilted Shiro’s face up with a gentle touch, leaning over him, hair tickled the edge of Shiro’s face. Keith’s lips were silky against his own, the harsher flavour of his chosen drink giving the velvet an edge. Keith managed to keep the kiss tender for a moment, before he licked against Shiro’s lips, demanding and chasing by turns as Shiro responded in kind. Teeth caught his fuller lower lip and Shiro’s breath caught in his throat. Shiro leaned up into it, bringing his hand up to tangle in Keith’s longer hair. “Keith,” he whispered, wanting to follow it with more words, but thoughts were quickly failing him. 

“Hold that thought!” Lance broke in. It took Shiro a moment to register that Lance was twisting to look behind him, tapping repeatedly against Shiro’s bicep with the back of his hand. “It’s happening!”

A little bemused, Shiro turned away from Keith - and couldn’t stop his mouth from falling softly open. 

He couldn’t look away, even when Lance spilled off of his lap and tugged Shiro to his feet, haphazardly pulling him towards the balcony railing, Keith close behind him. 

Tiny flowers glowed along the curving, vine-sculpted railing, but folded away their petals as he touched the balcony railing, running his fingers along it absently. Shiro stared wordlessly at the alien landscape in front of him.

Fern-like fronds were rising from between the trees, flowers unfurling from swollen buds along their lengths. The manta-creatures seemed to be attracted to the flower buds, circling around them like strange birds. As one flared open, the center shimmered to light. At first it seemed like an echo of the luminescent creature, but it grew, in size and brightness. From between the petals, it seemed to inflate, the glow spreading and dimming as the surface grew larger, veiling a smaller form pulsating in the centre. 

As it reached a certain size the flower seemed to shiver, and the bubble broke free of the flower, floating upwards like a paper lantern released to the sky. 

“Are those…?” Shiro trailed off. 

“Spores? Oh yeah,” Lance answered, folding his elbows over the entwined railing. “Like the ones that first led us here.”

The first one seemed to set off a chain reaction. What was one was soon ten, then twenty. Spores rose away from clusters of giant ferns, buoyed on subtle air currents, drifting upwards in waves of frosty blue-white lanterns. 

“Apparently these forests release them all together when the planet reaches its aphelion…” Keith said softly, the soft light dancing over his features. “The outer shell lets them escape Olkarion’s gravity, and the inner spore can survive in space.”

“They’ll head off and colonize other worlds or whatever.”

“It’s beautiful,” Shiro whispered. He turned to press a kiss into each of their foreheads in turn. 

More and more of the spores appeared, slipping out from the flowers as the mantas soared past, disrupting the petals with their fin-wings as they soared from flower to flower. The spore-lanterns started to fill the horizon, drowning out the stars with their light. The first ones were shrinking in the distance as they flowing up along the mountain ring. 

There was something in seeing new sights like this that fed Shiro’s soul. The realization of just how lucky he was to be out here, to be able to travel and explore and protect still had a tendency to leave him absolutely floored if he lingered with those thoughts. 

He watched the pulsing light as a spore rose nearby, closer than the others had been. “Do they still have a message?” Shiro asked.

“Yeah,” Lance nodded. “The Olkari changed the plea for help, though.”

“It’s a promise now; welcome and safety.” Keith’s voice was soft, like he didn’t quite believe it. 

Keith’s grip tightened on his shoulder, and Lance shifted closer, so that he could lean absently into Shiro’s side. 

“Voltron made this possible,” Keith said, emotion rough in the quiet words. Shiro could just shake his head in wonder. 

“And the timing was just about perfect to see this happen. Happy Birthday, Shiro.” 


End file.
